Chest pumping, I dig harder, bright red bubbling from where the glass slices into my skin.
When I’m done, I drop the shard, my entire body vibrating.
I failed Addie.
And I’ll never let myself forget it.
Not with the rose now carved over my heart.
Blood coats the bottom of my boots, leaving a scarlet foot trail behind me as I approach Max’s house.
He finally hired guards.
Little good they did when now, all six of their bodies litter the ground. With bullet holes between their eyes that are staring sightlessly up at the stars, they were snuffed out because they protected the wrong person.
I don’t care how loved they were. I don’t give a shit if they had families and if they had wives and little kids at home, eagerly awaiting their arrival. Daddy’s gone, kids.
I kick open the front door, and loud chatter cuts into different versions of what the fuck.
Max’s house is nearly all open concept, washed in black and gold with medieval d?cor. He’s a rich man but no amount of money could protect him from me.
On either side, two large staircases lead up to a balcony that circles the house in a half-moon. The man of the hour appears over the balcony, a wild look in his eyes as two more guards rush up behind him.
His white-blond hair is mussed, the strands standing on end, and when he spots me, that look turns feral, his eyes rounding with hysteria.
I cock a brow. “Did you rub a balloon on your head?”
He blinks, and before any of them can process my presence, I lift my gun and shoot off two bullets-one for each guard.
Too easy.
Apparently, his money couldn’t even buy guards that are good enough to entertain me. If they were anything like me, I would’ve been shot dead before a syllable could even leave my mouth.
Max’s eyes pop open wide as his men fall to the ground, blood quickly draining past the rails and onto the pristine tile on the ground floor. He turns to run, but my voice stops him cold.
“Come here, Max.”
Slowly, he looks back at me, terror radiating from his eyes. There’s a particular stink to men who are faced with the consequences of their actions.
They’re fucking petrified, but only because they know they’re going to die. And no matter what they believe in, they know damn well there isn’t any chance they’ll be led to those pearly gates.
“Whatever you think I-“
“Don’t insult me further by questioning my knowledge,” I cut in, my voice deadly calm. “You know better than that, Maximilian.”
His lips tighten into a white line, but he has enough sense to turn and make his way down the steps, straightening out his rumpled blazer to reestablish his fragile fa?ade of confidence. He’s struggling to maintain a calm expression, with his fists clenched and shaking, and sweat lining his hairline.
He pauses at the last step, standing before me with his nose in the air. He wants to die with his head held high.
How na?ve.
He will bow at my feet, begging for forgiveness and lips pressed so far into my boots that his teeth leave imprints behind.
“Where is she?” I ask, my voice cold and devoid of emotion.
He stares at me, his throat bobbing as he works to swallow. “I wasn’t told the location.”
“But you’re in contact with the men who have her,” I counter. He blinks, licking his lips to stall while he finds the proper response.
“It’s been fulfilled. I transferred Rick’s percentage, and we cut ties.”
Max transferred money to one account, so I figure only Rick Boreman got a cut, though I’m not entirely sure why yet. On the surveillance cam of Addie’s car crash, there were two men, and Rick was not the one to drag her out of her overturned vehicle.
I purse my lips, the scars on my face crinkling, nod my head, and walk toward him slowly, like a cheetah stalking its prey. A trickle of satisfaction drips into my bloodstream when he tenses, solidifying beneath my eyes.
“And you’re telling me that you have no way to contact either of them?”
He swallows and shakes his head. “Rick disconnected his phone after the transfer went through. Probably to hide from you.”
I hum, dragging my eyes up and down his form, noting the awkward stance and the way his feet are angled inward. He’s seconds away from pissing himself.
There’s no self-assurance of being in a public place, knowing the worst of your sins were intimidating a couple of women in a restaurant.
He’s been a very bad boy this time.
“So, why’d you do it, Max?”
“You killed my father, so the deal was off,” he spits, fury flashing in his irises. Stilling, I can only stare at him as I process his words.
After I killed Archie Talaverra, I cut off his hands and set them on Addie’s doorstep as a reminder that she’s mine, and no one else is ever to touch her. Max found out and started placing blame on her for Archie’s death, so I made him a deal. I wouldn’t kill his father, and he wouldn’t touch Addie. It took kidnapping and recording a video to drive home the point, but he kept to his word. Until recently.
Funny thing is, I never killed his father.
“Excuse me?”
He blinks, his face gradually turning red.
“You kill-“
“I heard what you fucking said,” I bark. “What made you think it was me?”
His face contorts. “Because you fucking said it was,” he bellows, taking a threatening step towards me. I do better and lunge in his face, causing him to recoil and lose his footing.
I catch him by the collar of his shirt and jerk him close. “Explain, Max,” I snarl. “Because I didn’t fucking kill your father. If I had, I would’ve killed both of you. We made a fucking deal, and
I kept my word.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.